If you are new to digital marketing you will frequently see people refer to Google PageRank especially by those who have been in the industry for long. Google uses algorithms while determining the ranks of websites that appear in its search results. PageRank was one of the most important algorithms that Google used to place the pages on the respective ranks. In other words, Google PageRank was used to assess how important the pages on a website are. This algorithm works by counting the quality and number of links on a page. This provides a rough estimate on the importance of the page.
PageRank can therefore, be defined as an algorithm used to analyze links. In a set of documents with hyperlinks, Google PageRank assigns each element with a numerical weighting. Within a given set, the relative importance of a web page can be determined in the process. Google can apply the algorithm on any possible number of entries.
Importance of Google PageRank algorithm
The Google PageRank algorithm plays a crucial role in determining the rank of a website. It assigns a number to each of the web pages, according to their robustness. This is calculated on the basis of incoming links and their quality. The link-analysis algorithm rates a given web page on a sale, ranging between 0 and 10. This number is generally displayed by Google in its browser toolbar. Later, a number of SEO tools have been using it. Google PageRank is among the most important algorithms, as Google uses it as one of the programs while presenting the listings under the search engine. PageRank can be regarded as a trademark of Google. However, similar techniques are available in other search engines as well.
Why is PageRank not being used now?
In the past, Google used to update the algorithm every three months, on average. However, since 2013, no updates have been made. The support for PageRank has also been dropped since 2009.It is evident that PageRank is a reliable metric, but Google might have sacked it.
A large segment of SEO experts and webmasters had an obsession or PageRank. As a result, black hat practices started emerging. Links were being sold, in exchange for more money for a link from website with a higher rank. Google did not support this, and eventually, did away with this algorithm.
People selling these links used various tactics to develop links with high PageRank. One of the common ways was to post comments under a blog. This created a problem for Google. It found it increasingly difficult to sort out the links that were originally good. It also faced difficulties in differentiating the high-quality pages from the ones with substandard grades. This is why Google decided to discontinue the Google PageRank algorithm. In the course of time, a mismatch started appearing between the publicly available PageRank, and the one that was generated by Google.
However, some people believe Google might think of reviving this algorithm in the course of time. Google, in early 2013, stated that the algorithm in the toolbar would not completely disappear, so long as people use it. They acknowledged that internet users consider Google PageRank as a valuable metric. Besides, Google has constantly upgraded and is currently using more sophisticated algorithms and is expected to come up with new ones. It remains to be seen whether or not Google revives the PageRank algorithm once again.
